This encyclopedia examines and evaluates knowledge in every area of human interaction and activity. Broad theoretical essays address issues of sex and gender at the personal and the social level; others examine issues of identity, status, class, ethnicity, race, and nation; of sexuality and the body; of social institutions and the structures of representation—all through the lens of gender. With a truly global perspective, topics of individual entries include changing conceptions of “the feminine,” the family and masculinity, religion, morality, cultural images, medical practice, public health, economy and society, and many more. In addition, the work discusses the influences of gender studies on various academic disciplines, examining how it has transformed and utilized methods and theories that have evolved over the past several decades. The encyclopedia features hundreds of contributing authors, including a large contingent of Graduate Center doctoral faculty and a number of doctoral students. Francesca Canadé Sautman is a professor of French at Hunter College and the Graduate Center.